What's the difference in HDMI cables?

- MONOPRICE: http://www.monoprice.com/ = Popular (famous for their hdmi cables), Best Quality for the price (very high/good review ratings), Cheap (lowest prices and discounts for buying in bulks), Safe (no viruses and secure purchases.ect). - Recommended cable: 1 ft. to 15 ft. & $3.38 to $19.94: 24AWG CL2 High Speed HDMI® Cable w/ Net Jacket (buy separate, I think 22AWG will fit, but not 24AWG will not: Ferrite Cores (1 PAIR) for 22AWG HDMI® Cable) : 24AWG CL2 Silver Plated High Speed HDMI® Cable (buy separate: Ferrite Cores (1 PAIR) for 24AWG HDMI® Cable) - Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/ = Popular (many popular hdmi brands/sellers), Good Quality and Cheap (you can find good quality hdmi cables cheap), Safe (I recommend Prime: Free two day shipping on Prime products, No minimum order size, and a few other mumbo-jumbo stuff : You can start a 30 day free trial or pay $79 year. : Prime products are sold by amazon.com OR Fulfillment by Amazon). - http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/other?redirect=true&rh=n%3A172282%2Cn%3A281407%2Cn%3A172532%2Cn%3A172540%2Cn%3A464418%2Cn%3A202505011%2Ck%3Ahdmi+cables%2Cp_76%3A1249137011%2Cp_n_condition-type%3A2224371011%2Cp_36%3A1253503011&keywords=hdmi+cables&pickerToList=lbr_brands_browse-bin&ie=UTF8&qid=1373939802&rd=1 = HDMI cables + Free Super Saver Shipping (Prime products) + New + Under $25 + Top Brands/Select brand by letter (Also you can look at brand sellers, example: monoprice brand and sort by monoprice seller instead of looking at the prime amazon sellers). - Some brands I looked at: AmazonBasics 2-Pack, Cable Matters Ultimate Series, Mediabridge Ultra series, BlueRigger, StarTech, C2G / Cables to Go Velocity = I looked at some of the amazons top selling/top rated hdmi cables and some retail store hdmi cables, I could not find anything as cheap+good as monoprice 24AWG CL2 High Speed HDMI Cable With Ethernet w/ Net Jacket - Black. - HDMI cable (v1.4): Standard speed up to 1920x1080i/24bpp/60hz or 1280x720p/24bpp/60hz. High speed up to 4096x2160p/24bpp/24hz or 3840x2160p/24bpp/30hz or 2560x1600p/24bpp/60hz or 1920x1080p (48bpp/60hz or 24bpp/120hz or 24bpp/60hz for 3D). (HDMI v1.0 to v1.2, high speed is similar to DVI-SL, standard speed is similar to component). - HDMI (v1.3 to v1.4) cable: Up to 7.1/24bit/96khz or 5.1/24bit/192khz (192khz for PCM). Up to 8 channels (7.1) uncompressed PCM and lossless compression surround sound formats DTS-HD-MA or Dolby TrueHD and lossy compression surround sound formats DTS-HD-HR, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS 96/24, DTS-ES Discrete, DTS, or Dolby Digital. = You need a hdmi cable that has ethernet channel do be capable of doing the ethernet feature (a feauture that's built into the cable). You need a hdmi cable with enough bandwidth to support 3D or 4k x 2k resolutions (newer hdmi versions added more bandwidth to support those features). It's up to your input+output connection devices to have/do those features (example: ARC means hdmi output on tv, you need 3D tv to do 3D, you need 4k tv to do 4k, you need a receiver that decode those audio formats Tip: If you have a receiver that does not support DTS-HD-MA, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD-HR, or Dolby Digital Plus bitstreams, you can tell your output device to decode it into PCM and then send it over the hdmi cable to the reciever). - 24K Gold connectors+internal+pins prevent corrosion that would otherwise impede signal transfer and could damage connections on equipment. - Full metal zinc alloy connector heads protect against EMI/RFI or other noise. Ferrite cores have magnetic materials that asborb EMI/RFI or other noise. - Screened shielded twisted pair (S/STP or S/FTP): Usually uses three layers of sheilding of 100% aluminized+Mylar foil and %100 copper/tin braid metal-to-metal shielding for protecting against EMI/RFI or other noise (conductors are usually copper and are covered in insulation, there may be drain wire too a few more other stuff). - TPE, APE, or PVC.ect jacket is a cheap and felxible insulator for the whole cable. Net jacket or nylon mesh jacket is a additional layer of protection for the cable jacket to keep it safe from knicks and cuts that otherwise might penetrate the jacket and render the cable useless. - AWG stands for "American Wire Gauge." It is the thickness of the wire inside the cable. The lower number AWG denotes thicker wiring and thicker overall cable. Thicker cables are recommended for longer cable runs because they offer less resistance along the signal path (more bandwidth). Thicker cables become less flexible and the weight can pull connecters out of connections.

As far as the quality of the signal you'll see there won't be much difference... HDMI was designed on purpose to work well with cheap cables....the main difference is going to be in quality control some cables have better shielding and jacket material that others quality cables have tip ends that fit more securely and don't come loose, also some cables have the tip ends robotics welded while others are soldered by hand. also some tip ends will allow the cable to bend slowly while others allow the cable to kink more easily....also the warranty will be different some have a lifetime warranty and others only 90 days or none at all....Blue Rigger cables are not too bad for being inexpensive Dayton Cables from Parts express are really well made for the price and of couse Blu jean cables if you want to go first class....

There are mechanical differences but for normal use, surface mount and under 15 feet, most work the same. Longer runs need thicker inner wires and insulation to prevent the signals from cross-talking in the wire. Some cables are thicker even for short runs. I like the "Media Bridge" brand from Amazon for $9-$20 per cable depending on length. I have wired several systems with them and they are solid cables. Some people like the extra-cheap generic cables made in Asia sold through MonoPrice. If I was doing a long run or in-wall runs, I would buy a custom cable from www.bluejeanscables.com. There is a lot of good technical information on the BlueJeans site if you want some details on cable construction.

You don't really need to spend too much on HDMI cables. Get something that is well constructed and provides a good snug fit. Anything above $200 crosses the line of diminishing returns. The article below explains it quite clearly.